“Won’t He do it!” – an exclamation of praise and acknowledgment of the Lord’s ability to get “it” done. “Won’t He do it” ranks right up there with “Favor ain’t fair.” I’m not sure where I first heard these phrases, but whenever I have heard someone say either statement it was always a sign of a few things:
- The speaker had some faith in a higher power with a special omnipotent connect to the universe.
- The speaker believed that their trust paid dividends when “He” got “it” done for them or “He” did “it” in a way they couldn’t or hadn’t imagined it could be done.
- The time for testimonials, rejoicing, and touching and agreeing was upon us.
I woke up this morning in need of praise. I probably wake up every morning in need of praise, but this morning the presence of a praise void must have shaken me from my sleep. Good church folks have told me, “Baby, praise Him anyhow!” They said, “Praise confuses the devil.” Well, I’m gonna need that devil to be a little more confused today and in the coming days and months. Life has dealt me numerous reasons to believe the devil has been what the old folks described as “busy.” As a matter of fact, that devilish character has been a bit too darn busy messing around with me. I have decided that tomfoolery has got to stop!
In the last few years, my thought bubble has often read, “Really, God?!” “Won’t He do it” has more often led me to think “He could if he chose to.” I’ve thought, “’Won’t He’ leave a sista trying to figure out my stupid mess.” Last week, I told somebody “if one more good church person tells me to ‘wait on the Lord’ and ‘pray’ I will freakin’ scream.” I have labeled myself “the not-so-good church lady.” Public opinion might state that I own this title because my 9am church service generally starts at 9:15am. (I find it nice to let all of the good church people pick their regular seats – the ones their families have occupied for generations and the ones that allow them to get a clear view for the live broadcast from their cell phones.) The church gossips might also surmise that I carry the label because I am known to miss a month of Sundays – literally. For the most part, they don’t know me so their speculative thoughts and comments have little value to me. The truth is that I sit behind them because I don’t want to be a part of their live broadcasts. Heck, they aggravate me enough videotaping in front of me a forcing me to see on a tiny screen what I’m already looking at live. The second truth is that I recognize that the God thing and the church thing aint’ nothing unless me and God do our special thing. When my back has been figuratively against the wall, I’ve told people that “Me and God got this thing that we do; we got a special relationship.” We really do.
Well, me and God started our chat this morning about the layered, complex mess that has become my normal. Since confusion is not of God, this must be a sinister mind-trick of that busy devil mama talked about years ago. This chaos just cannot be the definition of my normal. Through meditation, prayer, and praise this morning, I envisioned construction sites and remembered all of them as busy, dusty places full of equipment, supplies, and random people. There was something happening with an apparent state-of-the-art facility in sight. I realized that it was very likely that only the visionary and the designer really believed that all of the plans, parts, and people would combine to create the edifice imagined in time to fulfill the purpose for which it was designed. My life has resembled a construction site which frustrated me in the past, but now gives me hope that the master designer has been working on a masterpiece for years.
My little sermonette almost made me shout, “Glory!” Right now, I can “praise Him anyhow” and “go on anyway.” “Won’t He do it” is appropriate at this moment, but not as much fun to say because I have nobody to provide the response to my call. If I did, I would say, “Won’t He do it!” and the other person would smile, probably laugh, and respond, “Won’t He!” My “it” today is the uplifting of my spirit. My “it” is the spirit of the calm in my space. My “it” is the recognition that the mess is a construction zone with a master plan for me to evolve because I am not meant to stay the same.
If you are holding on to something that locks you in the past or that locks you in grief, sadness, or that locks you in any other unhealthy, unsafe condition, it is time for you to get on with living a fuller life focused on the people and the things that give life and are living. Be grateful for the cycle of life in a way that celebrates life and evolutionary, prosperous living without being gripped by the grief and the stillness of death. It is time to confuse the devil and be about the business of meditation, prayer, and praise. Flip the switch of messiness and confusion to resourcefulness and clarity. Eliminate thoughts of failure and speak of your belief in success. I woke up a little down and a lot perplexed. The praise session empowered me to flip that switch to an expectation of blessings and favor. I expect clarity and more really cool connects to aid my evolutionary transformation process. Won’t He do it!